Coke oven



Tic l- Jan. 13, 1959 c. OTTO 2,868,277

com: OVEN Filed Apri1.5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ln ox 2m a? I $3 INVENTOR. E CHRL 0770 \Q O Y \a \9 BY al/14L F77 TORNE VS Jan. 13, 1959 FiledApril 5, 1956 C. OTTO COKE OVEN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 9a minim jiuimimnj ja"? g 1:

[EMBED i jinjemmnjli kglw we E INVENTOR.

CQRL OTTO BY mmwzww FITTORNEYS KE OVEN Carl @tto, Manhasset, N. Y.

Application April 5, 1956, Serial No. 576,308

7 Claims. (Cl. 158-45) The present invention relates to the constructionof a regenerative by-product coke oven battery of the type comprisinghorizontally elongated coking chambers extending transversely of thebattery and alternating with heating walls each of which includes ahorizontal row of verticalheating flues, and regenerator chambers belowthe coking chambers and heating walls and extending transversely of thebattery, and characterized by the connection of the upper ends of aplurality of said lines in each heating wall to an upper horizontalchannel or bus flue in said wall, and the connection of the lower endsof the heating fiues in each heating wall to the upper edges ofassociated regenerator chambers, and to the connection of the lower edgeof each regenerator chamber to a subjacent sole channel by a portopening or passage. Coke oven batteries of the above mentioned type arenow used in the production of metallurgical coke and have been for manyyears past.

In coke ovens of the type described above and particularly in so-calledtwo-divided coke ovens wherein a pair of isolated elongated horizontalsole channels are provided for introducing and removing hot gases fromthe regenerator, there is a tendency for the gas to unequally distributeitself in the regenerator passages or chambers which are incommunication with the sole channels, and therefore to be unequallydistributed in the heating lines. This tendency to unequal distributionis due to an appreciable variation in the air or gas pressure in thesole channels along the length of the latter as a result of thevariations in linear velocity of flow in the channel at different pointsalong its length.

There have been many attempts to obviate and elimimate the unequaldistribution of air or gas in the regenerator passages and in the fiues.However, none of the prior attempts has been entirely satisfactory sincethey are impractical economically or do not give an entirelysatisfactory distribution.

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide improvedmeans for controlling the distribution of combustion agents through cokeoven regenerators and heating fines to thereby closely approximate theheating action referred to as uniform heating.

Another object of the present invention is to provide new and improvedmeans for controlling the distribution of combustion agents flowingthrough coke oven regenerators and heating lines which yieldssubstantially uniform heating of the coke oven regardless of directionof flow of the combustion agents through the heating fines.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of means forcontrolling the distribution of combustion agents flowing through thecoke oven regenerators and heating fiues to provide for uniform heating,which means includes a movable element operatively connected to meansfor reversing the flow of combustion agents through the coke oven formoving said element between first and second positions in order toeffect uniform heat- Patented Jan. 13,

ing regardless of the direction of flow of the combustion agents throughthe regenerator.

The above and other objects, characteristics and features of the presentinvention will be more fully understood from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a transverse sectional view of a coke oven battery;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a reversing valve employed inthe coke oven shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-i of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4 illustrating my novelcontrol means in another condition;

Fig. 6 illustrates another form of control means embodying the presentinvention, said control means being shown in longitudinal section;

Pig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 f Fig. 7.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, Fig. 1 illustrates a coke ovenbattery generally designated by the reference numeral 10. This coke ovenbattery is of the two-divided type although my invention is notnecessariiy limited to this type of battery. The battery it comprises asupporting deck 12 which is preferably made of concrete and may or maynot form the roof of a conventional basement space 14. Deck 12 providesa support means for the coke oven brickwork which forms an upper storyor section 16 and a lower story or section it; which merge into anintermediate horizontal masonry layer 20. The upper story or section 16of the battery comprises horizontally elongated coking chambers (notshown) alternating with heating walls 22. Extending between each twoadjacent heating walls 22 are a plurality of flue division walls 24which divide the upper story or section 16 into a plurality of flues 26.In a two-divided oven of the type shown herein all of the flues 26 arein communication with an upper horizontal channel or bus flue 28 whichis preferably of a varying cross section so as to compensate for thevarying volumes of gases flowing through different portions of the busline.

in a two-divided oven the oven is divided into two sub stantiallysymmetrical sections 30 and 32 by a vertical flue division wall 34 whichextends from a level substan tially even with the tops of the adjacentflue division walls downwardly to deck 12.

The lower story 18 of the battery It} constitutes a regenerator forpreheating combustion air or for preheating a lean fuel gas such as ablast furnace gas. The regenerator is divided by the vertical divisionwall 34 into two sections 36 and 3t; and each of these sections isdivided into a plurality of passages or flues 4t} by division walls 4 2.Beneath the regenerator passages or flues 40 and extending between twoadjacent walls 22 are two end-toend sole channels 44 and 46 which areisolated from one another by the wall 34. The regenerator dues orpassages 4t) communicate with their adjacent sole channel dd or 46 bymeans of openings or apertures 48 in the wall 553 defining the upperperiphery of the sole channels. As shown herein and as is normally thecase, the openings 48 are all substantially the same size. In order topermit for communication between the regenerator passages in and theheating fiues 26 passages or openings 52 are provided in masonry layer20.

With the structure hereinbefore described, air or lean gas is introducedinto one of the sole channels, for inaseaevv stance channel 44, and saidgas passes through the openings 4% into the regenerator passages 40upwardly through the passages 52 in the masonry layer 2% and upwardlythrough the fines in the sectionwa'cross through the bus flue 28 andthence downwardly through flues 2s and passages dtl in the right handsection of the coke oven and out through the sole channel 46. At othertimes the lean gas or air can follow a reverse path.

To introduce air or lean gas mixture into the sole channels reversingvalves 54 are provided at the opposite sides of the battery. An exampleof such a reversing valve is shown in Fig. 2. My present invention isnot limited in any manner to the particular construction of thereversing valve and any suitable construction may be used. housing 56which defines a chamber so. A vertically movable damper or valve member62 is raised and low ered to open and close communication between thechamber so and the waste heat tunnel 64 beneath the damper 62. As shown,the valve 62 is a circular disc. The valve 62 is rigidly connected to avertical valve stem as which extends upward through the top of the valvechamber as and is, operatively connected to reversing mechanism whichwill be described in detail hereinafter. ber 60 is in continuouscommunication through a conduit connection 68 with an associated solechannel 4- or as. The housing 56 is provided with an opening 70 forconnection with a pipe 72 extending from the conduit connection 68 to asource of gas (not shown). Disposed in the pipe 72 for controlling theflow of gas therethrough is a suitable cut-off valve 76 here showndiagrammatically as a butterfly valve. Housing 56 is also provided withan air inlet port '73. Flow through the air inlet port into the conduitconnection 63 is controlled by a pivoted valve member 80. Each of thevalves 76 and till which are associated with the reversing damper as areoperatively connected to a reversing valve mechanism arranged to giveeach of said valve members an opening or closing adjustment respectivelyat the end of each reversal period. As hereinabove mentioned, thereversing valve mechanism is conventional and forms no part of thepresent invention and for this reason it is believed that furtherdescription thereof is unnecesary.

To operate the reversing valve mechanisms 54 so as to reverse the flowof air or lean gas through the regenerator any suitable mechanism may beemployed. As shown herein, a chain 82, is provided. Chain 82 iscontinuous and preferably extends completely around the outer peripheryof the battery. As shown in Fig. 3, chain 8?; is fixed to a crank 83mounted on a shaft 85 for rotation therewith by a motor means 6.Rotation of the crank 33 imparts linear movement to chain 82. It will beobvious that other reversing means may be employed. For instance, ahydraulically actuated reciprocably operable piston would be eminentlysuitable for this application. The valve stem as for the damper 62 isoperati-vely connected to the chain 82 in any suitable manner whereby toeffect the upward and downward movement of the damper for reversing thecondition of the reversing valve mechanism. It is believed obvious thatthe two reversing valves 54 shown in Fig. l are adapted to 0p erate toopposite conditions whereby one is effective for permitting the passageof waste gas through the valve mechanism and to the exhaust tunnel 64when the other is effective for introducing air or lean gas into thecoke oven. 7

All that has been described hereinbefore is old and well known to thoseskilled in the art. The present invention relates to a means forcontrolling the flow of lean gas and air from the sole channels into theregenerator passages so that the flow will be uniform regardless of thedirection thereof. This control means is generally designated by thereference character 92. In accordance with the form of the inventionshown. in Figs. 1 to 5,

The valve illustrated in Fig. 2 comprises a The cham- Ctr the controlmeans comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending members or bars94, one for each set of lines, which overlie the wall Stl in slidingrelationship therewith. The members l are made of refractory material orheat resistant metal and are provided with a plurality of pairs ofopenings as, each pair being associated with one opening or aperture inthe wall Sll extending from the sole channel to the regenerator passage.As hereinbefore mentioned, members Q4 are longitudinally movable orslidable and this sliding movement is effective for moving the member 94to and from first and second positions (Figs. 4 and 5). in a firstposition one of each pair of apertures or openings 96 in member 94 is inregister with its associated opening 43 and in a second position ofmember Q4 the other of each pair of openings 96 is in registry with itsassociated opening 48.

in accordance with the present invention the openings are not all of thesame size but are graduated in size so to provide for uniform flow ofair and lean gas. Assuming that gas or air is introduced into solechannel 44 the natural tendency of said gas or air is to have maximumvolume flow upwardly through the passage 4t) and the flow will diminishgradually so that the minimum flow will be through the flue 449 On theexit side of the structure the maximum flow tends to be through the flueid and the minimum flow tends to be through flue 463 the distribution offlow being gradually less in accordance with the remoteness of any givenflue from flue do This analysis may be stated qualitatively in that thevolume of air tends to be greatest the farther away a flue is from theentrance end of a sole channel and tends to be greatest the closer tothe exit end of a sole channel. To correct this tendency, the aperturesin members 94 which are in registry with openings 43 when gas or air isintroduced into sole channel 44 are progressively smaller as theaperture is more remote from the reversing valve 54' associated withsole channel 44. Moreover, when gas or air is introduced into solechannel 44 the openings 96 in registry with openings 48 associated withsole channel 46 are progresively larger as they are remote fromreversing valve 5d associated with channel 4-6. Accordingly, it will beseen that the resistance to flow of air or gas from the sole channel 44upwardly into the passages in the regenerator section 36 isprogressively greater as the passage is remote from the reversing valve54 associated with sole channel 44. This gradual increase in theresistance of flow from sole channel as into the passages in regeneratorsection 36 is exactly enough to compensate for the tendency of the flowto be uneven and to be greatest through the passage td. In theregenerator section 38 the same is true. That is, the smallest openingin member 94 is associated with the opening 48 between the flue lb andsole channel 46 and the largest opening in member 94 is associated withthe opening 48 between the sole channel 46 and the regenerator passage4%. In this manner the distribution of air and gas flow through thebattery may be equalized.

When the flow is reversed so that gas or air is intro-- duced into solechannel 46 and is withdrawn from the coke oven through the sole channel44 the exact reverse is true. That is, there is a tendency for maximumflow upwardly to take place in regenerator passage lth and for a minimumof upward flow to take place through passage & Moreover, the downwardpassage of waste through the fines as and regenerator passages tends tobe unequally distributed so that the maximum flow will be throughregenerator passage 48- and the minimum flow will be through regeneratorpassage 46%,. Accord ingly, members 9% are moved upon reversing of gasflow in a manner to be described subsequently so that the other of eachpair of apertures 96 in each of the members 5% registers with theopenings 48 in wall 5t These other of the pairs of openings are arrangedin inverse relationship to said first mentioned set of openings in themember assent 7 94 whereby equalization of flow is eifected regardlessof the direction of flow through the oven.

In accordance with one highly desirable feature of the invention, themovement of the members he to shift the registry of the aperturestherein with the openings 48 is efliected through the reversingmechanism. As shown herein, each of the members 94 is connected to alink or rod 98 which extends through the side walls 1th) of the battery.Each link 98 is connected by means of a pin and slot connection 102 to abell crank MM which is pivotally mounted as at 196. The other arm of thebell crank 104 is connected by means of another pin and slot arrangement108 to a second chain 109 which preferably extends around the peripheryof the battery. Chain 109 is connected to a crank lllll fixed to shaft85 for rotation therewith to eifect linear movement of chain 109 inunison with chain 82. It will be clear from this description and fromFig. 3 that when chain 1% is moved linearly by rotation of crank 111,bell cranks 104 will pivot and thereby impart linear movement to links98 which movement is imparted to the members 9 so as to shift theregistry of the apertures therein with the openings 48. It will also beobvious to those skilled in the art that by employing proper connectionsand linkages, the functions of the two chains 82 and 109 could becombined in one chain.

Referring now to Figs. 6 to 8, a modified form of the present inventionis illustrated. In the form shown in Figs. 6 to 8, a stationary tubularmember or pipe 110 is interposed between the Wall 50 of the solechannels and the regenerator passages 4t). Pipe 110 is provided in thebottom thereof with apertures 118 which are in registry with thepassages 48 in the wall 50 and is further provided with relatively largecutouts 115 in registry with said passages 40 whereby to provide for acontinuous path for the flow of combustion elements from the solechannel through the pipe 110 and into the regenerator passages 4t).Rotatably mounted within pipe lrlld is a second pipe or tubular member112. Tubular member 112 is provided with cutouts 117 which are inregistry with the cutouts 115 in pipe 110 and is also provided with aplurality of pairs of openings 114 and fill 6 each of which alternatelyregisters with the openings 11% in the stationary pipe 110 when pipe 112is rotated in a manner to be described hereinafter. The openings 11d and116 are proportioned similarly to the openings 96 in the longitudinallymovable members 94 hereinbefore described. With such a proportioning ofthe openings M4 and tie it will be clear that uniform flow of combustionmaterial through the regenerator passages may be effected regardless ofthe direction of flow.

In order to eifect partial rotation of member 112 so as to shift theregistry of the apertures 3114 and M6 therein with the aperture 118 instationary pipe 11b, rotatable pipe 112 extends outwardly of the batterythrough the end wall 1th). Fixed to the end 119 of pipe 112 whichextends outwardly of the regenerator is a pivotally mounted bell crank12d which is also connected to the chain 109. The connections of thebell crank to the chain and pipe are of the pin and slot typeillustrated in Fig. 3. Accordingly, it will be seen that when the chains82 and 109 are moved so as to effect reversal of the direction of flowof gaseous material through the coke oven battery, partial rotation isimparted to the rotatable pipe 112 whereby to shift registry of theapertures therein with the apertures 11% in the stationary pipe. In thismanner uniformity of flow is efiected regardless of the direction offlow.

Referring now to Fig. 8, means are shown therein for adjusting the sizeof the apertures 114 and 116 in movable tube 112 whereby to permitadjustment of the flow of gaseous fluids through the regenerator inorder to obtain uniform flow therethrough. As shown in Fig. 8, the meansfor adjusting the size of the apertures 114 and 116 includes first pairsof plates 122 associated with apertures 114 and second pairs of plates,124 associated with the apertures lilo. All of said plates and 124 areof arcuate configuration whereby to permit their positioning insurface-to-surface slidable relation with the inside of tube 112.Moreover, each of said plates is provided with a slot through .Which astud 123 extends. Stud 128 is preferably fixed to the surface of tube112. Threadedly engaging stud 128 and overlying a portion of the movableplates 122 and 124 are nuts 13% which may be tightened and loosenedwhereby to releasably hold the plates 122 and 124 in fixed relationrelative to the tube 112. In order to adjust the openings lid and 2'16,the nuts 138 may be loosened thereby to permit movement of the plates122 and 124 as prescribed by the slots 126. When the openings 11 i and116 are properly pro portioned, the nuts may be tightened and the devicewill operate as hereinbefore mentioned.

it will be obvious that any suitable means may be employed forreleasably holding the plates 122 and 124 in fixed relation relative tothe tube H2 and the invention is not limited to the arrangement shown.Moreover, it will be obvious that only one plate 122 and one plate 124is necessary to achieve the adjustment desired. rather than employing apair of plates with each oi said ertur It will be further understoodfrom the above paragraph that the adjusting means illustrated in Fig. 8may also be employed in connection with the members 94 illustrated inFigs. 3 to 5, said adjusting means preferably overlying the uppersurface of the movable members 94 whereby to adjust the openings in saidmembr n a manner substantially identical to the manner her mbeforedescribed. The openings in members 94 also be adjusted by introducing arefractory material into said openings whereby to make them smaller.

Although i have herein shown and dessi'ibed several forms of the presentinvention, it will be understood that various changes and modificationsmay be made herein within the scope of the appended claims Withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope or this invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Fatent, is:

l. in a regenerator having a wall defining a pair of horizontallongitudinally extending isolated sole channels, a plurality of passagesfor the flow of gaseous fluid extending upwardly from said sole channelsand being spaced horizontally from one another, said wall having aplurality of horizontally spaced openings providing means forcommunication between said sole channels and their associated passages,means for introducing gaseous fluid into one of said sole channels andfor permitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through the other of saidsole channels whereby said one channel is an entrance channel and theother channel is an exit channel and gaseous fluid flows upwardlythrough the passages associated with said entrance channel anddownwardly through said passages associated with said exit channel,means for introducing gaseous fluid into the other of said channels andfor permitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through said one channelwhereby said other channel is the entrance channel and said one channelis the exit channel, and reversing means for alternately actuating saidlast two mentioned means for reversing the flow of gaseous fluid throughsaid regenerator; means for rendering substantially uniform the flowthrough said passages regardless of the direction of flow therethrough,comprising a movable member overlying said openings in said wall of saidsole channels and having a pair of apertures for each of said wallopenings, one of each of said pairs of apertures being in registry withits associated wall opening when said member is in one position and theother of each of said pairs of apertures being in registry with itsassociated openin when said member is in another position, and meansoperatively connecting said member to said flow reversing means formoving said member to and from its two positions when said reversingmeans is operated to reverse the direction or flow of said gas in saidpassages, said apertures being proportioned so that regardless of whichset is in registry with said wall openings, said apertures areprogressively smaller as they are disposed farther away from the area ofintroduction of gaseous fluid into the entrance channel and areprogressively larger as they are disposed away from the area ofwithdrawal of gaseous fluid from said exit channel.

2. in a two divided coke oven having a regenerator provided with a walldefining two isolated longitudinally extending iorizontal sole channelsdisposed cnd-to-end plurality of passages for the flow of gaseous fluiding upwardly from said sole channels and being spaced horizontally fromone another, said wall having a plurality of horizontally spacedopenings providing means for communication between said sole channelsand their ssociated passages, means for introducing gaseous d into oneof said sole channels and for permitting the witndrawal of gaseous'lluid through the other of said sole channels whereby said one channelis an entrance channel and the other channel is an exit channel andgaseous fluid flows upwardly through the passages associated with saidentrar channel and downwardly through said passages associated with saidexit channel, means for introducing gaseous tluid into the other of saidchannels and for permitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through saidone channel whereby said other channel is the entrance channel and saidone channel is the exit channel, and reversing means for alternatelyactuating said last two mentioned means for reverisng the flow ofgaseous fluid through said regenerator; means for rendering substantially uniform the llow through said passages regardless of thedirection of flow therethrough, comprising a movable member overlyingsaid openings in said wall of said sole channels and having a pair ofapertures for each of said wall openings, one of each of said pairs ofapertures being in registry with its as cciated wall opening when saidmember is in one position and the other of each of said pairs ofapertures being in registry with its associated opening when said memberis in another position, and means operatively connecting said member tosaid fiow reversing means for moving said member to and from its twopositions when said reversing means is operated to reverse the directionof flow of said gas in said passages, said apertures being proportionedso that regardlcss of which set is in registry with said wall openings,said apertures are progressively smaller as they are dis posed fartheraway from the area of introduction of gaseous fluid into the entrancechannel and are progressively larger as they are disposed away from thearea of with drawal of gaseous fluid from said exit channel.

3. in a regenerator having a wall defining a pair of horizontallongitudinally extending isolated sole channels, a plurality of passagesfor the flow of gaseous fluid e:- tending upwardly from said solechannels and being spaced horizontally from one another, said wallhaving a plurality of horizontally spaced openings providing mea .s forco munication between said sole channels and their associated passages,means for introducing gaseous fluid into one of said sole channels andfor permittn the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through the other of saidsole channels whereby said one channel is an entrance channel and theother channel is an exit channel and gaseous fluid flows upwardlythrough the passages associated with said entrance channel anddownwardly through said passages associated with said exit channel, forintroducing gaseous fluid into the other of said channels and forpermitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through. said one channelwhereby said other channel is the entrance channel said one channel isthe exit channel, and reversing means for alternately actuating saidlast two mentioned means for reversing the flow of gaseous fluid throughsaid regenerator; means for rendering substantially uniform the howthrough said passages regardless of the direction of flow therethrough,comprising a longitudinally movable member overlying said openings chic.

at LA l3; 7 in said wall of said sole channels and having a pair ofapertures for each of said wall openings, one of each of said pairs ofapertures being in registry with its associated wall opening when saidmember is in one position and the other of each of said pairs ofapertures being in registry with its associated opening when said memberis in another position, and means operatively connecting said member tosaid flow reversing means for longitudinally moving said member o andfrom its two positions when said reversing means is operated to reversethe direction of flow of said gas in said passages, said apertures beingproportioned so that regardless of which set is in registry with saidwall openings, said apertures are progressively smaller as they aredisposed farther away from the area of introduction of gaseous liquidinto the en trance channel and are progressively larger as they aredisposed away from the area of withdrawal of gaseous fluid from saidexit channel.

4. In a regenerator having a wall defining a pair of horizontallongitudinally extending isolated sole channels, a plurality of passagesfor the flow of gaseous fluid extending upwardly from said sole channelsand being spaced horizontally from one another, said wall having aplurality of horizontally spaced openings providing means forcommunication between said sole channels and their associated passages,means for introducing gaseous fluid into one of said sole channels andfor permitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through the other of saidsole channels whereby said one channel is an entrance channel and theother channel is an eXit channel and gaseous l'luid tlows upwardlythrough the passages associated with said entrance channel anddownwardly through said passages associated with said exit channel,means for introducing gaseous fiuicl into the other of said channels andfor permitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through said one channelwhereby said one channel is the exit channel, and reversing means foralternately actuating said last two mentioned means for reversing theflow of gaseous fluid through said regenerator; means for renderingsubstantially uniform the flow through said passages regardless of thedirection of flow therethrough, comprising a rotatably movable memberoverlying said openings in said wall and said sole channels and having apair of apertures for each of said wall openings, one of each of saidpairs of apertures being in registry with its associated wall openingwhen said member is in one position and the other of each of said pairsof apertures being in registry with its associated opening when saidmember is in another position, and means operatively connecting saidmember to said flow reversing means for rotatably moving said member toand from its two positions when said reversing means is operated toreverse the direction of tlow of said gas in said passages, saidapertures being proportioned so that regardless of which set is inregistry with said wall openings, said apertures are progressivelysmaler as they are disposed farther away from the area of introductionof gaseous fluid into the entrance channel and are progressively largeras they are disposed away from the area of withdrawal of gaseous fluidfrom said exit channel.

5. In a device provided with a longitudinally extending channel having aclosed and open end and a plurality of isolated passages incommunication with said channel, means for periodically introducinggaseous fiuid into said channel to flow therethrough and through saidpassages, means alternately operable with said last mentioned means forwithdrawing gaseous fluid from said channel whereby to cause a reversingflow thereof through said passages and channel, and means forselectively actuating said last two mentioned means; means forcontrolling the how of said gaseous fluid through said passagescomprising a movable member having a plurality of pairs of apertures,one pair of each passage, one aperture of each of said pairs ofapertures being in registry with their associated 9 passages when saidmember is in one position and the other aperture of each pair ofapertures being in registry with said passages when said member is inanother posi tion, the apertures in registry with said passages beingprogressively smaller from said open end to said closed end when gaseousfluid is introduced into said open end of said channel, the apertures inregistry with said passages being progressively larger from said openend to said closed end when gaseous fluid is being withdrawn from saidchannel, whereby flow of gaseous fluid through said passages isrelatively uniform regardless of the direction of flow therethrough, andmeans operatively connecting said member to said actuating means formovement thereby to and from said two positions.

6. In a regenerator having a wall defining a pair of horizontallongitudinally extending isolated sole channels, a plurality of passagesfor the flow of gaseous fluid extending upwardly from said sole channelsand being spaced horizontally from one another, said wall having aplurality of horizontally spaced openings providing means forcommunication between said sole channels and their associated passages,means for introducing gaseous fluid into one of said sole channels andfor permitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through the other of saidsole channels whereby said one channel is an entrance channel and theother channel is an exit channels and gaseous fluid flows upwardlythrough the passages associated with said entrance channel anddownwardly through said passages associated with said exit channel,means for introducing gaseous fluid into the other of said channels andfor permitting the withdrawal of gaseous fluid through said one channelwhereby said one channel is the exit channel, and reversing means foralternately actuating said last two mentioned means for reversing theflow of gaseous fluid through said regenerator; means for renderingsubstantially uniform the flow through said passages regardless of thedirection of flow therethrough,

comprising a rotatably movable member overlying said openings in saidWall and said sole channels and having a pair of apertures for each ofsaid well openings, one of each of said pairs of apertures in registrywith its associated wall opening when said member is in one position andthe other of each of said pairs of apertures being in registry with itsassociated opening when said member is in another position, and meansoperatively connecting said member to said flow reversing means forrotatably moving said member to and from its two positions when saidreversing means is operated to reverse the direction of flow of said gasin said passages, said apertures being proportioned so that regardlessof which set is in registry with said Wall openings, said apertures areprogressively smaller as they are disposed farther away from the area ofintroduction of gaseous fluid into the entrance channel and areprogressively larger as they are disposed away from the area ofwithdrawal of gaseous fluid from said exit channel, and means foradjusting the size of each of said apertures in said rotatable member.

7. In a regenerator as defined in claim 1, said regenerator furthercomprising means for adjusting the size of said apertures in saidmovable member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS147,022 Rawson Feb. 3, 1874 150,401 Creigh May 5, 1874 1,041,761 EvansOct. 22, 1912 1,246,114 Koppers Nov. 13, 1917 1,986,675 Hobson Jan. 1,1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,070,831 France Aug. 17, 1954 856,798 France Aug.7, 1940 236,664 Great Britain July 13, 1925

